


On the Hook

by LadyJFox



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-10 21:57:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13510587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyJFox/pseuds/LadyJFox
Summary: The Gundam boys go on a week-long scuba diving vacation on the Red Sea. The trip doesn't end quite as they had planned.





	On the Hook

White boating shoes padded heavily down the wooden wharf as the sun kissed the earth, chasing away the vestiges of night. Quatre Raberba Winner looked out over the water to his left. The light peach hue of morning was slowly beginning to turn to a soft, hazy lavender which would eventually become a brilliant azure. The day was already looking to be beautiful. Hot, but beautiful. Once they got out on the sea, the cool air would drop the temperature to a more tolerable level.

The blonde haired, blue eyed Arab let loose a slow exhale as he lifted the heavy scuba gear he was carrying up and over the side of the open-air powerboat. At forty feet long, bright red and metallic silver, she was an exquisite blend of speed and luxury. Her twin 520 BRAVO engines produced enough horsepower to fly her across the water at a competitive 75 miles an hour. Silver lettering on her bow named her the Al'ahmar Jawhra, Arabic for Red Jewel, and the green flag on her stern, currently hanging limply for lack of a breeze, flew the Arabic inscription of the Islamic creed, the Shahada, over a sword, identifying her as a Saudi vessel. She’d been built for pleasure crafting rather than scuba diving, but Quatre’s faith in her had been well placed and she’d done the job nicely.

He tucked the gear carefully along the side of the boat. A gust of wind pulled at his red t-shirt, causing it to slap and ripple against his skin and his white cargo shorts matched the shoes on his feet. His clothes, though maybe not the luxury boat in front of him, were plain and casual, belying his position as the CEO of Global 500 company, Winner Enterprises Incorporated. His youth, however, matched his twenty years and his impending junior year as a business and engineering student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Confident his equipment wouldn’t get jostled around, he straightened up and looked back down the wharf. The others were following, albeit at a slower pace. It was a fair expectation. Quatre had been too excited for their trip today to get much sleep the night before and even an early morning start hadn’t seen him dragging his feet. His restless night and proved equally restless for his boyfriend, Trowa Barton.

The guy was tall, leggy, and lean muscle all over, with caramel hair falling down over half his face that housed penetrating green eyes. While most would call him quiet and reserved, those that knew him well knew him to be gregarious and protective. Carrying his own diving equipment as he walked down the wharf in a dark t-shirt, loose button-up, and cut-off jeans for shorts, Quatre thought he was the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen, though being in love with him certainly added a level of implicit bias to that opinion.

Unlike Quatre, Trowa’s own lack of sleep the night before had less to do with the trip and more to do with the results of having a rare week-long vacation with his boyfriend of almost three years.

In front of Trowa, carrying not one, but two sets of scuba gear was Heero Yuy. Dark haired and dark eyed, even on a chipper day like today, he tended to look broody. His dark blue shirt and shorts similar to Trowa’s showed his own set of muscles off.

Quatre hopped onto the boat and helped Heero arrange the additional gear. From his new position, he could see small, wiry, Chang Wufei following several paces behind Trowa, lugging his own scuba gear. After three days of diving shipwrecks at the mouth of the Suez Gulf and the northern reaches of the Red Sea, they’d had to stop, refuel and resupply in Marsa Alam, Egypt.

A two-hour trip south would bring them to Sataya Reef where they would hopefully swim with dolphins before finally heading home to a private villa south of Jeddah, a port city on the western coast of Saudi Arabia. The villa was home to Commander Sada Ul, a genial old man who was a close friend of Quatre’s and also the financial backer of the Maguanac Corp.

During the years leading up to and during the War of 195, the group had acted as a private Arabic army that had fought against the United Earth Sphere Alliance and OZ military groups. The Maguanac Corp had a history with Quatre prior to the war and had provided him significant resource support in his role as a Gundam pilot and had often accompanied him into battle. Since the war ended, the group had taken on various jobs ranging from construction help to a more recent foray into private security.

The Maguanac’s leader, a giant of a man, Rashid Kurama, had met them at Taif International Airport five days ago. From there, a small private jet had shuttled them to the villa. Quatre had been thrilled to see him. His confidante and former legal guardian hadn’t followed him to Boston and he missed the man deeply. During their short flight, Rashid had informed them that several others in the group were also spending some time at the Commander’s villa. Upon learning of Quatre’s vacation, several of the men had made plans to visit while he was in their ancestral country.

The first day of their vacation had been spent primarily catching up with the Maguanacs and readying the boat for their impending diving trip. After that, they had boated up the western coast of Saudi Arabia to the very northern part of the Red Sea with a stop in Yanbu, halfway up the coast, for refueling before they’d arrived at their destination of Sharm El-Sheik in Egypt.

The resort town was located at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Situated between both the Gulf of Aqaba on the East and the Gulf of Suez to the West, the city had been the perfect place to stop for the night before they’d begun a three-day diving marathon among several shipwrecks that littered the mouth of the Suez and today was an early start. Quatre had thought swimming with dolphins would be the perfect way to end an amazing vacation and he was eager to get going.

Heero stepped on board, taking Quatre’s place as he helped Trowa and Wufei with their gear. Quatre left Heero to it and made his way to the wheel. The bright red leather was thin and ribbed beneath his hand for an easy grip as he inserted the key and turned on the ignition. The twin engines gurgled, then roared to life and he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

He’d been on ships several times before, but living in Boston the last two years had really incited a love for the water in him. Last semester he’d even splurged on himself and took, and passed, MIT’s sailing and archery courses. Already proficient in both fencing and firearms, he’d been able to test out of those courses, and he was now officially certified as an MIT “pirate”. It was silly he knew, but experiences like that were what the joy of living was all about.

Quatre let the boat idle as he looked over his shoulder. The gear was all packed in securely and he caught a glimpse of Heero helping Wufei take some coolers down into the galley. Trowa was moving in his direction.

But they were missing someone.

“Where’s Duo?” he called over the sound of the engines. “I don’t want to leave anyone behind by accident.”

Heero and Wufei both re-emerged from below as Trowa came up next to him, placing a gentle hand on the small of his back. “There he is,” Trowa said, motioning towards the top of the wharf. Quatre looked in the indicated direction and sure enough, Duo was running towards them, fishing poles in hand and his long braid streaming behind him. Danny Dog, Quatre’s collie, bounded after the long-haired ex-Gundam pilot, playfully jumping on his back paws in excitement. They had enough food stored on the boat, but there was nothing quite like the taste of freshly caught Red Sea fish cooked in a skillet, which was also a tasty part of their plans.

“We can leave him on purpose,” Wufei said dryly.

Heero laughed even as he walked back to the side and helped Duo with the fishing equipment. Trowa shook his head and chuckled in his ear. The sound was light and content and it caused his nerves to stand on end. He doubted he’d ever stop reacting to that sound nor did he want to.

Duo climbed aboard and shared some words he couldn’t hear with Heero. “You guys ready?” he asked. The two guys looked up at him and gave him the thumbs up signal. Duo slapped a ballcap on his head and walked to the stern of the boat, untying the mooring line there. Trowa left his side and did the same with the one near the bow.

They could see small sailing and fishing vessels beginning their own daily routines as Quatre eased the craft away from the wharf and into deeper water. Once clear of the crystal blue shallows, he pushed the throttle forward, increasing speed to a cruising 20 knots. The powerboat sliced through the placid water with ease.

There were no real speed limits out here, though faster boating could get you in trouble if you strayed too close to the reefs or if you encountered rough weather, today promised to be beautiful and calm. Quatre was content to cruise along, careful to give the reefs a wide berth.

Looking out across the deep blue water, he noticed how very alone they were. Twenty minutes in and they had left any signs of another boat far behind. It was a low point in the tourist season, so the lack of nautical company didn’t sound off any alarms in his head. He looked towards the back. Duo and Wufei were sitting in the rear passenger seats, fast asleep, much like Trowa sitting next to him. On the port side, Heero sat, relaxing in his seat and watching the waves meander past.

Quatre smiled. It had been a great week, full of laughter and adventure. He hadn’t had a real vacation since the Italian trip they’d taken right after high school graduation and before he and Trowa had left for Boston. That had been two years ago.

The break from both school and work had done wonders for him. Despite the physical exertion diving in strong currents demanded, he was feeling more energized than he had in months. Trowa seemed more relaxed too, which was a blessing. They’d been pushing each other’s buttons lately. More than usual and not in the best of ways. He’d just been too tightly wound recently and the stress had leaked into their relationship. This trip had been a necessity as well as a reward for hard work.

A loud slapping noise brought his attention back to focus. They were still alone out on the water, so he wasn’t entirely sure where the sound had come from. Quickly he checked the back. Duo and Wufei were still quietly sleeping. Quatre breathed a sigh of relief, for a moment he’d worried he’d lost one of them somehow. Trowa hadn’t woken up either. Heero had stood up though and was looking over the side.

Heero straightened and noticed Quatre’s gaze. He pointed down over the side of the boat. “Dolphins!”

Quatre’s heart rate ticked up a notch. They were still easily ten miles or more north of Sataya Reef. Heero flashed him a smile before looking back over the side as another loud slapping noise sounded.

Quatre leaned over as far to the starboard side as he dared while driving. Sure enough, a small pod of spinner dolphins darted back and forth under the waves that crashed against the boat’s prow. Their underwater dodging was punctuated by powerful leaps in the air, which explained the loud slapping noise as they dove back into the water. The large mammals seemed to enjoy racing the boat.

He reached over with one hand, playfully ruffling up Trowa’s hair. No point in trying to keep it neat. It’d be a lopsided wet mess soon anyway.


End file.
